1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the construction and configuration of cooling tower components and especially to those components constituting the fill or packing of the cooling tower and which function to provide a large surface area over which warm water may pass in thin films in order to enhance removal of heat through initimate contact with large volumes of air.
2. Description of Related Art
The use of cooling towers for removal of heat from liquid, usually water, is very old. Advances in the technology have resulted in many improvements in the design of cooling tower components, both internal and external. The internal components, notably the fill elements and the mist eliminators, have received the most attention since they have the greatest influence on the tower performance. Early tower designs utilized thin wood slats installed in various patterns for fill elements. Such fill elements are subject to early failure due to rot, erosion, and ice-loading and have now been largely replaced by plastic fills of several differing designs, each of which is claimed to effect improvements in some of the requirements of an ideal fill.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,493,219, issued Feb. 3, 1970 to Stachowiak et al, shows a trickle unit for use in cooling towers which includes a pair of coplanar arrays of horizontally spaced vertical tubes with corresponding tubes being spanned by vertical sheets of fabric. The fabric is a warp knit having a multiplicity of continuous knitted ribs formed by the loop wales which are effective to mix the water film and create turbulence therein. U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,751, issued Mar. 1, 1977 to Zelnik, shows an apparatus for heat and/or mass transmission between two or more phases. The Zelnik devices includes a helical guide for both phases inside a column flowing either in a counter current or in no current. The column includes a helical insert on its internal surface so that it forms a continuous channel for the phase with the highest specific mass and another helical insert for causing the phase with the lower specific mass to flow along a helical track within the inner space of the column. U.S. Pat. No. 2,907,707, issued Oct. 6, 1959 to Wintermute, shows a gas and a liquid contact apparatus. The Wintermute apparatus includes a plurality of substantially cylindrical chambers with each chamber having a helical electrode supported concentrically within it. A controlled volume of liquid is deposited on the electrode and the gas is introduced into the chamber for making contact with the liquid. U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,710, issued July 11, 1972 to Ristow discloses a vapor condenser which includes condensing tubes having spiral strips disposed therein for extending the flow path of vapor within the tubes.